Eloise

After interviewing Charlie, and three cosmopolitans later, I stumbled home. As I approached my apartment, I heard Natalie call my name from down the hall.

“Eloise?”

“Natalie? What are you doing here?”

She held up the brown bag she was carrying.

“Claire told me you left the party because you were sick, so I thought I’d swing by and bring you some chicken soup. But, by the looks of it, I don’t think you’re sick at all.” She walked up to me and placed her nose in front of my mouth. “You’ve been drinking cosmopolitans.”

“So?” I walked inside and kicked off my shoes.

She set the brown bag with the soup in it down on the kitchen counter.

“Where were you?”

“Didjo’s around the corner.” I walked into my bedroom and she followed behind.

“Why? Why did you tell Claire that you were sick and had to leave?”

“I didn’t want to be there.” I stripped out of my clothes and pulled my nightshirt from my drawer.

“Did something happen with Christian?” She took a seat on the edge of the bed and narrowed her eyes at me.

“No. Why would you think that?” I went into the bathroom to wash my face.

“You scrunched up your face! You’re lying!” she exclaimed.

For fuck sakes, if I didn’t tell her, she’d never stop.

“We had sex in his bathroom,” I spoke in a whisper.

“What did you say?” She walked up beside me and rested her hip on the counter.

“WE HAD SEX IN HIS BATHROOM!” I shouted.

She cupped her hand over her mouth in disbelief.

“Don’t.” I pointed at her. “Don’t look at me with those judgy eyes!”

She immediately put her hands up.

“No judgment here. But, oh my god, I can’t believe you did that. You don’t even know him.”

“Right.” I nodded my head. “Like you should talk.” I pointed at her.

“Hey. I own what I do. But it’s what I’ve always done. You, on the other hand, have never fucked a guy you didn’t know. In fact, they’re lucky if you give in after the fifth date.”

“I know.” I lowered my head as I placed my hands on the sink and took in a breath. “I’m not proud of what I did. Believe me. It just happened.”

She placed her hand on my back and began to softly rub it.

“Sometimes these things happen. He is definitely fuckable and gorgeous, so I don’t blame you. Did you just leave his place after it happened?”

“Yes. I couldn’t stay there.”

“Did you at least exchange phone numbers?”

“He wanted it and I told him no. I said it was a one-time thing and it would never happen again.”

“Good for you. #Delete without actually having to delete him.” She smiled. “Don’t overthink what happened.” She kissed my head. “Chalk it up to a few moments of great sex and move along. You’re far too busy to give it another thought.”

“You’re right.” I sighed. “Already forgotten.”

“Sure it is.” She winked as she left my apartment.

After Natalie left, I grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and retreated to my bedroom for the night. I plugged my phone in, set it on the nightstand, and climbed under the covers. As I lay there, my mind went into full replay mode about the events of tonight. I didn’t want to rehash what had happened. I wanted to forget about it, but I couldn’t. The sex was too good and so was Christian. He was the exact type of man I would fall in love with. I’d already felt the connection between us at Hellcat Annie’s and, to be honest, my intuition wasn’t saying a word to me. But men like him couldn’t commit to one woman and he had proved that with the number of women he dated every week.

****

Christian

As hard as I tried to go on with the night and entertain my guests, I couldn’t get Eloise out of my head. Maybe I shouldn’t have had sex with her. Maybe I should have just stopped at the kiss. But she wasn’t telling me to stop. Her body was perfection and the feeling I got while I was buried deep inside her was a feeling I’d never experienced before. Shit. I needed to apologize to her for what happened.

“Hey, Claire,” I spoke as I lightly placed my hand on her shoulder. “Is there a chance you can give me Eloise’s number?”

She looked at me in bewilderment.

“Umm. I’m sorry, Christian, but I can’t. I can ask her if she wants me to give it to you.”

“She won’t. She already told me no tonight.”

“Listen, she’s been hurt recently. Not only recently, but a lot, and she’s taking a step back from dating.”

“I just want to take her out to dinner and maybe get to know her a little better.”

“Dinner and getting to know someone usually equals a date, and that’s something she doesn’t want to do right now. She’s got her career and that’s what she’s focusing on.” She gave me a small, sympathetic smile.

“I understand.” I nodded.

“Thanks for inviting me. I had a great time. I’ll see you on Monday,” she spoke.

“Have a good weekend.” I kissed her cheek.

After everyone cleared out and the caterers cleaned up and left, I headed to my bedroom. As I climbed into bed, I held my cellphone in my hand and pulled up my text messages. Was it too late to text Digits? It was midnight, but she did say she was out with friends.

“I hope it’s not too late to text you.”

“I’m awake,” she replied with a smiley face.

“Did your evening get any better?”

“Not really. How about yours?”

“Could have been better.”

“Something happen?”

“Nah. Just girl problems.”

“Same here, but substitute the girl with a guy.”

“Another douchebag?”

“I haven’t decided yet. What’s your girl problem? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“She’s just someone I want to get to know better.”

“Then go after her. You do know it’s the guy’s job to chase the woman.”

“She wants nothing to do with me.”

“Then she’s not worth the trouble of getting to know.”

“Perhaps you’re right. I’ll catch ya later, Digits. I’m tired. Good night.”

“Catch ya later, Mobile Man. Good night.”

Maybe Eloise wasn’t worth the trouble, but I still needed to apologize to her.